Plug button assembly



Nov. 28, 1961 R. H. BENGTSON, JR 3,010,743

PLUG BUTTON ASSEMBLY Filed Sept. 29, 1958 IWiZeQiEOQ Z Richavd II. Bea 935022 Jr,

3,010,743 PLUG BUTTON ASSEMBLY Richard H. Bengtson, Jr., Arlington, Mass, assignor to United-Carr Fastener Corporation, Cambridge, Mass, a corporation of Delaware Filed Sept. 29, 1958, Ser. No. 764,151 1 Claim. (Cl. 287-53) My invention aims to provide improvements in plug button assemblies particularly, though not exclusively, useful in connection with valves such as used to control the flow of Water from a faucet.

An object of my invention is to combine a plug button and a holding means for the plug button with the moveable part of a valve so that various colored plug buttons may be used or plug buttons marked hot, cold or with any other desired inscription. Furthermore, the removable plug button makes for easy access to a working adjustable member of the valve, such as when it is necessary to renew a valve closing washer.

In the drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment of my invention:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a valve and valve stem device with which my invention is associated;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged section taken on the line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the plug button member of my device;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the plug button holding means;

FIG. 5 is a side view of the plug button holding means; and

FIG. 6 is a section taken on the line 6-6 of FIG. 5.

Referring now to the drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment of my invention, I have shown the upper operating portion of a valve or water faucet which is all that is believed to be necessary to illustrate my invention to those skilled in the art.

The operating handle 1 is attached to an adjustable valve stem 2 by the usual set screw 3 as shown in FIG. 2. In the handle 1 I have provided a bore or hole 4 surrounded by a wall so that the screw 3 may be recessed entirely out of sight.

A plug button 5, preferably formed of so-called plastic material rather than metal, closes the hole 4 and is preferably held in place by a plug button holder 6, all as best shown in FIG. 2. A plug button holder 6 is secured to the handle 1 by the set screw 3 and locked in position by a lock washer 7 or any other suitable locking means. Thus, the holder 6 is concealed in the hole United States Patent D 5 .4 by the plug button 5 and all of the parts described and Patented Nov. 28, 1961 ice illustrated operate as a unit and do not become loosened by normal operating rotation of the handle 1.

The plug button 5 has a tubular projection 8 on its under side for engagement with yieldable fingers 9 of the holder 6. While this tubular projection 8 may be of any suitable shape and construction, I prefer to have it yieldable by dividing it by slots 10 (FIGS. 2 and 3) so that it may more easily adjust itself into engagement with the holder 6. The yieldable fingers 9 (FIGS. 2, 4, 5 and 6) are of substantial length and of a width that makes them readily flex, and are spaced from the wall surrounding the hole 4 thereby easily engaging the tubular projeetion 9 of the plug button and compensating for any misalignment of the pants after the tubular projection 9 of the plug button is pressed into the hole 4.

It will be readily understood that the plug button may be any suitable color to match a color scheme, it may be marked on the top with any suitable identification means and it may be easily applied and removed for changing, as desired by the user, as well as for making repairs as described above. Thus my novel assembly is more simple and more readily adaptable to its purpose than previously known assemblies. Furthermore, the use of a plug button holder 6 simplifies the construction over any other use of a specially constructed handle.

While I have illustrated and described a preferred embodiment of my invention, it should be understood that my invention is best defined by the following claim.

I claim:

A valve construction of the class described including a valve stem, a handle attached to said valve stem and having a bore, a plug button closing the bore in said handle and having an integral tubular projection on its underside extending into said bore and a plug button holder located in the bore in said handle and attached in position by a suitable fastener, said plug button holder having integral yieldable fingers directly engaging within the tubular projection of the plug button and holding the plug button in place relative to the handle and handle bore.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,958,165 Le Compte May 8, 1934 2,009,876 Dahlin July 30, 1935 2,100,635 De Vries Nov. 30, 1937 2,142,791 Koza Ian. 3, 1939 FOREIGN PATENTS 586,370 Great Britain Mar. 17, 1947 209,315 Great Britain Jan. 10, 1924 

